MUMBAI: The player auction for the inaugural edition Mumbai Cricket Association’s T20 Mumbai League conducted here at the weekend saw 119 players being bought by the six franchises who will compete in the 2018 season of the league to be played from March 11-21 at the Wankhede stadium.
The teams – Mumbai North, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai South – collectively spent Rs 20.3 million from a total budget of Rs 21 million that was available to them. Each franchise had a budget of Rs 3.5 million that they could spend for building a squad consisting of a minimum of 16 players and a maximum of 20 players. It was mandatory for the teams to spend a minimum of Rs 3 million.
While the icon players had a base price of Rs 400,000, the first class players (players that have represented Mumbai in BCCI’s first class tournaments in the last three years) had a base price of Rs 150,000.
The List A Players (players that have represented Mumbai in other national domestic tournaments or India U-19 and India A teams in the last three years) were the next with a base price of Rs 100,000, followed by emerging players (players that have represented Mumbai in other national domestic tournaments or the U-19 or U-23 teams in the last three years) with a base price of Rs 75,000.
The final category was that of the developmental players (players that represent any club or team that is affiliated to MCA or any MCA affiliate teams), who had a base price of Rs 50,000.
The player regulations for the league made it mandatory for each Team to include only one icon player and five Ffrst class players in their respective squads. It was also compulsory for each franchise to include a minimum of four emerging players and/or developmental players in aggregate in the squad. The maximum that any team could bid for an icon player was capped at Rs 700,000, while the cap was Rs 500,000 for the other categories.
Key figures from the T20 Mumbai League 2018 Player Auction
• Total number of players sold: 119
• Total money spent: Rs 20.3 million
• Total number of icon players sold: 6
• Total number of first class players sold: 30
• Total number of List A Players sold: 17
• Total Number of emerging & developmental Players sold: 66
Gavaskar named league commissioner
The MCA and T20 Mumbai League commercial partner Probability Sports have announced that legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar will be the commissioner for the inaugural edition of league.
MCA president Ashish Shelar said: “We are pleased to announce Sunil Gavaskar as the commissioner for the T20 Mumbai League. His immense experience and passion for the game will provide strength to the league. We look forward to his invaluable insights to make the T20 Mumbai League the best in the cricketing world.”
